


Hufflepuff Shenanigans

by starrnobella



Series: Interstellar Novella [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hufflepuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 20:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: Sometimes you just have to know the answer to a very important question, regardless of silly it may sound to other people.





	Hufflepuff Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: And I'm back with a new update to Interstellar Novella! This work has been up and coming for probably the better part of six months. I had a lot of fun writing it and I do hope you enjoy it!
> 
> It was inspired by a detention slip I found on tumblr designed by betterinbronzeandblue and with her permission I was able to write this drabble...okay I know it's about three drabbles tied into one, but I wanted to make sure I encompassed every piece that I wanted to write. Special shout out to my beta, xxDustNight88, for reading over this for me!:)
> 
> Title: Hufflepuff Shenanigans  
> Rating: K  
> Characters: Fred and George Weasley  
> Summary: Sometimes you just have to know the answer to a very important question, regardless of silly it may sound to other people.
> 
> If you are interested in checking out my other works or keeping up with me in general, I have an author's page on Facebook that you can check out (starrnobella Fanfiction) as well as a group (starrnobella Fanfiction Friends & Fans) that I am very active in on a daily basis. I'm also on tumblr (starrnobella) that you can follow along with me as well.
> 
> Be sure to let me know what you think!
> 
> Love always,  
> ~starr

"I've had the most brilliant idea, Georgie my boy," Fred announced as he walked into the Gryffindor common room one dreary, fall afternoon.

"What idea is that?" George replied closing the book he'd been reading on the couch. He turned to face his twin, who had a mischievous look upon his face which led George to start smiling as well.

Fred walked around to stand in front of where George was sitting and began to speak. "Have you ever heard of a hufflepuff?"

"You mean the house?" George asked curiously.

"No, like an actual hufflepuff," Fred replied. George shook his head no, so Fred continued with his idea. "Exactly. I want to know a hufflepuff is. So I suggest we ask anyone and everyone what one is when the word comes up."

George smiled and nodded his head. "Let's hope good old Snape brings it up today. I cannot wait to hear his answer."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Fred replied. "I was also thinking that we should see how long we can keep this up until someone does something about it."

"Let's," George replied simply as he rose from the couch and shortly the two were out the door on their way to their first class of the day.

. . . . . . . .

Their first class of the day was Herbology with Professor Sprout. All they needed to hope for was that one of their Hufflepuff classmates would do something that would earn them house points. Then they'd have an excuse to start their little game. It was only just a matter of time.

"Today we are studying Snargaluff pods. Who can tell me how this plant usually appears where it is endemic to? And ten points will go to the house of the person who can tell me both places the plant is endemic to!" Professor Sprout announced as she joined her students in the greenhouse while they arrived at their stations.

"Here's our chance, Georgie my boy," Fred whispered excitedly to George,who just smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. They just needed to wait for one of their intelligent classmates to answer the question for them.

Angelina Johnson was the first to person to shoot a hand up in the air. George tapped her on the shoulder causing her to turn and look at him. "What do you want, George?"

"Put your hand down," he replied reaching over to attempt to pull her hand down, but was unsuccessful.

"Why? I know the answer. Besides we need the points. I heard that Snape took points away from us. Your brother and his friends were up to no good again," she hissed as she continued to fight him to let her hand go back up in the air.

"Miss Johnson and Mr. Weasley, keep your hands to yourself," Professor Sprout exclaimed before turning her attention to another student whose hand was waving in the air. "Yes, Mr. Applebee. Do you have answer for me?"

"The Snargaluff plant, endemic to Ottery St Catchpole, Devon, England and Scotland, Great Britain, has the appearance of a gnarled stump that hides dangerous thorn covered vines that attack when provoked," he replied happily.

"Ten points to Hufflepuff!" Professor Sprout exclaimed excitedly as she waltzed around the room checking to make sure that every bench had a pot with the Snargaluff plant planted inside.

Fred looked at George and winked before popping his hand up in the air, waving it about. Much in the same way that Ron described Hermione's hand during classes.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" Professor Sprout asked pausing in what she had been doing.

"What's a hufflepuff?" he asked with a completely serious look on his face.

Professor Sprout looked at him for a moment completely puzzled before answering the question. "Well, it's one of our house, my dear boy. You should know that from playing Quidditch."

"I know it's a house, but I want to know what an actual hufflepuff is. Especially because the house mascot is a honey badger," Fred said quickly.

"I- ," Professor Sprout began to say, but then shook her head. "I'm not going to answer that question right now. We have a lot of work to do. Everyone open your books to page five hundred and fifty."

Fred turned to George with a grin on his face before mouthing, "One professor down. A few more to go!"

. . . . . . . .

The next day the twins decided to continue their little game well into their second class, Charms with Professor Flitwick. George was going to take the lead with him. After all, George was Flitwick's  _favourite_ student.

As the twins walked into class, they exchanged a wicked smile before promptly taking their seats in the middle of the hall. According to the board they were going to be working on Disarming Charms today which was perfect for what they had in mind. Flitwick would be pairing them off and George was bound and determined to be paired with a student from his new favourite house.

After a few minutes, Flitwick came into the hall and closed the door quickly behind them. "Alright, alright, quiet down. It's time to start classes. Pair off with someone and start practicing the charms we were working with yesterday," he announced as he walked up to the front of the hall.

George looked over his shoulder and winked at Fred before walking over towards a small group of Hufflepuff females. He had a wicked smile beaming proudly from his face.

"Where's he going?" Angela asked as she approached Fred. She had been expecting to team up with George, but apparently she was going to be working with the other fiery, redheaded twin.

Fred shrugged with a wicked grin on his face. Angela quirked her brow at him looking over at George. "What are you up to?" she asked intriguingly.

"I'm not up to anything," Fred singsonged as he offered his arm to Angela which she took reluctantly, allowing him to lead her over to the side of the room.

As they practiced their spells, Fred kept a watchful eye on his brother as he worked alongside one of the quieter Hufflepuffs that the pair had come to know over the last few years. A wicked smile appeared on Fred's face when he saw Flitwick nearing the two.

"This is an interesting pairing," Professor Flitwick said simply as he watched on, "Usually you pair up with Miss Johnson, Mr. Weasley. Why the sudden change of pace?"

"I thought it would be good for house unity, sir," George replied happily as he defended himself against the next spell that was sent his way. An evil smile masked with innocence grew happily on his face.

"Ten points a piece to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff!" Flitwick exclaimed happily and turned to walk away. However, George tapped him on his shoulder causing him to spin back around. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"Sir, what's a hufflepuff?" he asked.

Flitwick paused and looked at George for a few minutes contemplating an answer. He wasn't sure if the poor boy was being serious or if it was another one of his and Fred's silly jokes. If it was a joke, then he didn't want to encourage the behavior. However, if he was being honest with himself and George, he wasn't sure where the Founding Fathers of Hogwarts got the name Hufflepuff. He shook his head brushing the thoughts aside. "Come see me later. Everyone get back to disarming!"

With that said, Flitwick walked away from that pair and continued watching the other students as they practiced their charms.

George looked over at Fred. Both of them with smiles beaming proudly. He held up his hand with two fingers up. The pair burst into laughter causing their classmates to look over at them for a brief moment before returning their attention to the charms they were casting.

. . . . . . . .

As they were walking back towards the Gryffindor Common Room, Fred and George happened upon Mr. Filch. He appeared to be mumbling to himself about something rather animatedly, which appeared odd to the twins since they knew Filch to be a rather mundane man.

"I wonder if Mr. Filch has an answer to our question," George said, turning to his brother with a sly look on his face. He proudly walked up to Mr. Filch and tapped him gently on his shoulder.

Momentarily the mumbling seemed to stop as Mr. Filch turned slowly around to meet the eyes of the person who had interrupted his train of thought. He looked the lad up and down before sighing softly. "What do you want?"

"I just had a question I wanted to run by you, Mr. Filch, if that's alright," George replied.

Fred was watching from across the corridor. It was one of those times that he wished one of the projects that he and George were working on happened to be working properly, rather than making a rather loud shrieking sound that left behind a ringing for approximately a day and a half. However, he pushed the thoughts aside and returned his focus back to George's conversation with Mr. Filch.

As the twin was speaking to the man, a group of ladies from Hufflepuff walked between where Fred was watching George and Filch talk, an idea struck him.

"Hello ladies," he proclaimed happily. A few of them giggled before stopping in front of him and smiling in his general direction. The stage was set and it was up to him to lead the act to its completion. He smiled and placed a gentle arm around the shoulders of the closest young lady to him. "How are you beautiful ladies doing this evening?"

A few of them responded. Some of them only giggled and blushed before whispering to the person to either side of them. Annabel Entwhistle was standing closest to Fred and responded as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm doing well, Fred. How are you doing?" she asked, looking up at him with a smile beaming brightly from her face. Truth be told, she had always had a crush on the twins. It didn't matter which one she was talking to, her face seemed to blush either way.

"I'm doing alright," he replied with a wink. "What are you up to for your afternoon?"

"Uhm," Annabel said, pausing for a few moments, "I think we are heading back to the Hufflepuff common to study for a little while before we have to head to Potions. What are you up to?"

George's ear perked up when he heard his favorite word and a wicked grin grew across his lips. "Mr. Filch, I was wondering if you knew what a hufflepuff was…" he said calmly.

Mr. Filch looked at him for a minute and furrowed his brow. A puzzled look grew on his face and it was almost as though George could see the gears spinning in his head as he thought about an answer.

George bit his lip to keep from snickering and glanced back at Fred. Fred looked up at him and winked before returning to his conversation with Annabel. George turned back to Mr. Filch as he waited for an answer.

Mr. Filch huffed and turned on his heels, completely ignoring George's question. As he walked away he was mumbling under his breath. There were only a few words that George was able to understand.

"I don't have time to deal with stupid questions….stupid kids….why are they in the hallway?"

"Apparently I'm not getting an answer from him today," George said with a laugh as he walked to rejoin Fred and the crowd of young women who had gathered around him.

. . . . . . . .

"Only two professors left, Georgie-boy," Fred hummed as the pair walked into the Transfiguration classroom later that same afternoon.

George looked at his twin and laughed. It'd been a rather unsuccessful adventure thus far, but they were having fun leaving the adults unable to answer their rather simple question. If any of the professors were going to give them an answer, it would definitely be their beloved Transfiguration professor.

McGonagall was waiting at the front of the room as the class filed inside. The stern look on her face should have been a warning sign to all. However, with the twins, there was no line that would go uncrossed. They just hoped that their Professor would be willing to go easy on them.

"Take your seats everyone," McGonagall announced, looking around the room as students slowly began filling their seats. She just watched quietly as the low murmur of hushed whispers filled the room. When her eyes landed on the twins, an eerily calm smiled appeared on her face.

She'd been hearing discussions from her fellow professors that they'd been up to some unusual antics, but before she took any action she wanted to see the behavior for herself. There was a small part of her that hoped that the twins would be wise enough not to try anything in her class, but one could never underestimate the behavior of the Weasley twins. She loved having both of them in class, but sometimes they were just too much.

"'Ello, professor," Fred said happily as he took a seat towards the front of the room, a few rows ahead of his normal seat of choice.

McGonagall furrowed her brow and tilted her head back momentarily before addressing him as she quickly glanced around the room to find George. Much to her unpleasant surprise, she watched him take a seat right beside Fred. They were definitely up to something. "Hello, Mr. Weasley. Did you fancy a change of scenery today?"

Fred nodded his head eagerly in response with a smile beaming brightly from his face and a wicked look in his eyes.

Unsure how to respond to him, she returned the smile and nodded her head quickly before directing her attention back to the rest of the class. "You will all find a teapot on the desk in front of you. Today we are going to be practicing a transformation spell that will allow you to turn that teapot into a tortoise. We will be working in pairs so please find a partner that you feel comfortable working with."

All of the students looked around the room, exchanging passing glances at one another, but no one was getting up to move into different seats and work with other people. Noticing the lack of movement, McGonagall decided that picking their own partners was not going to be an option today. She would have to split them up herself.

"If you belong to Gryffindor, you will find a Hufflepuff to work with. Slytherins, you will be working with Ravenclaws," she announced, narrowing her eyes as she met the eyes of each of her students in the room. Each one trying to look away before she caught them, but each one failing in doing so. "Pair up before I select your partners."

As the other students in the room rushed to pair up with someone of the assigned house, Fred raised his hand in the hopes that McGonagall would see it before she gave them their next set of instructions.

When she saw his hand, she sighed, "Yes, Mr. Weasley? Something in the instructions that you didn't understand already?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

"What is the issue?" she questioned.

Fred turned quickly to wink at George before redirecting his attention to to his professor, who was much too patient with him for her own good. "What's a hufflepuff?" he asked innocently.

"It's one of the Hogwarts houses, Mr. Weasley," she said, furrowing her brow. "Just like Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. You call Gryffindor home, just as Ms. Macavoy calls Hufflepuff home. It looks like she could use a partner, so if you wouldn't mind…"

"I know it's a house, Professor, and I'd be happy to work with Ms. Macavoy. But I was asking what an actual hufflepuff is. You know, the thing the house is named after," Fred insisted.

A few of the students snickered from behind him, but they were silenced almost immediately by one glance from their Professor. A mumbled apology arose from the group which allowed McGonagall to redirect her attention to the problem at hand.

Gently, she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before crossing her arms over her chest. Taking a deep breath, she finally responded to his concerns. "If you would like to discuss this further than the answer I have already given you, then please come by my office after you have finished with your classes for the day. Bring George along as well. From what I have heard from a few other Professors, he has a similar question to your own," she said calmly. "Does that work for you, Mr. Weasley?"

"Absolutely, ma'am. Thank you for taking the time to discuss this pressing issue with us," Fred replied as he quickly rose from his seat and joined Heidi Macavoy at her table towards the middle of the room. He attempted to present McGonagall with the most innocent smile he could muster once he had taken in his seat.

"Now that's out of the way, everyone take out your wands. We are going to practice the motion needed to perform this spell," she announced, shaking her head momentarily to rid her mind of Fred's question. She'd have more time to think about a proper response later.

. . . . . . . .

"Open your books to page three hundred and seventy-five and start copying the notes from the board," Snape bellowed as he closed the door the Potions room. The room was almost immediately silent except for the scratches of quills against paper.

Fred glanced at George out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to copy the notes. George met his eyes and there was a shrug exchanged because neither one was sure how to handle the situation now that Snape had placed a damper on the mood for the class.

"Eyes on your own notes, Mr. Weasley," Snape grumbled, walking past where the twins were seated. He sighed and shook his head because he knew that it was a waste of time telling them to stop talking. It never worked anyways.

The students continued to work for a little while longer before Professor Snape interrupted them again. "Are there any questions?"

George's hand shot up into the air immediately. It was almost as though the perfect situation just happened to land perfectly in his lap.

"What is it, Mr. Weasley?" he asked.

"Well sir, I have a question. But it isn't related to the topic we are talking about right this second," George began to explain, but was quickly cut off by his professor.

"Then save it for when it is related to the topic we are discussing," Snape grumbled, walking away from the young man, who was testing his last nerve.

"But professor, it's a very important question," George insisted. "I need to know what a hufflepuff is and none of my other professors have been able to tell me what exactly one is."

"Get out," Snape said simply, pointing towards the door as he refused to look at George or Fred.

"But, sir," Fred exclaimed as George slowly started gathering his things.

"You can leave as well," Snape shouted. "I don't have time to deal with stupid questions right now."

The twins glanced at each other quickly before gathering their things and exiting the classroom. As they passed their classmates, they heard the hushed whispers and couldn't help smiling. They knew they'd be the talk of the school for a while now.

. . . . . . . .

As the twins entered her office, she never looked up from the books she had sitting on her desk. They quietly took a seat and waited for her to say something to them. Wandlessly, she closed the door behind them after a few moments of absolute silence as she closed the book that she had been reading.

"So I hear you two have been causing some  _trouble_ in your classes lately," she said, removing her classes and placing them on her desk.

The twins turned to look at each other before shaking their heads furiously.

"Not trouble, ma'am," Fred replied. "We were just trying to educate ourselves on the beginnings of our houses."

"Honest, Professor. We meant no harm by it," George added.

She smiled and shook her head. "Regardless of what you were trying to do, it was disruptive in your classes. I have received three referrals from other staff members, and I could hear Professor Snape dismissing you from class all the way up here. Something needs to be done."

The twins hung their heads. They knew she was right. They had done it to themselves. What started out as an innocent prank was going to result in them spending at least one afternoon in detention rather than out of the Quidditch field.

"How many days have we earned?" Fred asked as he watched McGonagall pick up her quill and the detention forms.

"Four days and please don't annoy Mr. Filch anymore. He really didn't take too well to it," she said, tearing the slips off and handing one to each of the twins. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, gentlemen."

"Thank you, Professor," they said in unison as they rose from their chairs and left her office.

Upon closing the door behind them, they stopped and turned to each other. Busting out laughing, they couldn't help but agree that the detentions were worth the priceless faces and explanations their professors had tried giving them with the whole ordeal.


End file.
